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Mature motorists get a better deal on car insurance

18 September 2007 / by None

The older you are, the lower the car insurance premium according to a new study by moneysupermarket.com.

The research conducted on behalf of the comparison website shows while a 70-year-old can expect to pay around £245 a year for insurance; a 35-year-old will be forced to fork out a £334 premium.

And this is peanuts compared to the differences between insurance for a 60-year-old and 30-year-old. While the older driver's premium will be around £230 a year, the 30-year-old will pay up to £420 a year.

Richard Mason, director of insurance at moneysupermarket.com, explains: "It is quite a shock to see people in their 60s paying an average of £230 and those in their 30s paying £344 – or 50 per cent more. Even a 40-year-old will pay over 20 per cent more than a 70-year-old.

"Clearly insurers feel that people in their 20s or 30s are a far greater risk than those in their 60s or 70s. This is because they tend to drive more frequently and at busier times. Insurers also deem younger drivers as more aggressive on the road, in comparison.”

The research, which kept every parameter the same except the age of the driver with the maximum excess being £250, will come as a surprise to many as the general perception is that the elderly have higher health-related risks, such as poor eyesight.

Yet in reality, they are driving far less and not claiming as much as their younger counterparts, which means insurers can afford to keep their premiums low while drivers of a working age are being slapped with huge insurance costs.

Richard Mason concludes: "Our research shows why it is so important to compare as many prices and policies as possible when getting insurance. For example, a 20-year-old renewing their annual insurance until they are 25 would use five different insurers to save the greatest amount of money."